UVa Student Dies After Release From North Korea, Where He Was Imprisoned

Otto Warmbier, the University of Virginia student who had been held captive in North Korea for roughly a year and a half, died on Monday afternoon, just days after returning to the United States, reports The Washington Post.

Mr. Warmbier was returned to America from North Korea, where he had been arrested for “hostile acts against the state” and sentenced to 15 years of hard labor. He had been traveling through North Korea to Hong Kong when detained.

In a statement reprinted by the Post, his parents said that North Korea’s “awful, torturous mistreatment” was responsible for the death of their son, and that he was unable to speak, see, or respond to commands on his arrival in Cincinnati last week.

“He looked very uncomfortable — almost anguished,” they wrote. “Although we would never hear his voice again, within a day the countenance of his face changed — he was at peace. He was home, and we believe he could sense that,” they wrote. “We thank everyone around the world who has kept him and our family in their thoughts and prayers. We are at peace and at home too.”